Description
Viale della Libertà is the great tree-lined avenue of modern Palermo: it carries Via Ruggero Settimo on to the north, from Piazza Politeama past the Giardino Inglese, and it is the street of the big fashion names and of what remains of the Art Nouveau villas.
The historic stretch, up to Piazza Croci, has three roadways: the central one for cars and two side ones, separated by wide sidewalks. Among the surviving buildings is Villa Zito, with the Fondazione Sicilia's art gallery; farther north lies the Giardino Inglese.
It was laid out in 1848 by Ruggero Settimo's revolutionary government, on the model of the Parisian boulevards, to link the center to the Piana dei Colli; the name pays tribute to the ideals of that year. Richard Wagner is said to have called it the Champs-Élysées of Sicily.
After the National Exhibition of 1891 the avenue filled with villas, some by Ernesto Basile. The postwar building frenzy known as the Sack of Palermo demolished many of them: Villa Deliella was razed to the ground the same afternoon the city council had approved its protection.
The historic stretch, up to Piazza Croci, has three roadways: the central one for cars and two side ones, separated by wide sidewalks. Among the surviving buildings is Villa Zito, with the Fondazione Sicilia's art gallery; farther north lies the Giardino Inglese.
It was laid out in 1848 by Ruggero Settimo's revolutionary government, on the model of the Parisian boulevards, to link the center to the Piana dei Colli; the name pays tribute to the ideals of that year. Richard Wagner is said to have called it the Champs-Élysées of Sicily.
After the National Exhibition of 1891 the avenue filled with villas, some by Ernesto Basile. The postwar building frenzy known as the Sack of Palermo demolished many of them: Villa Deliella was razed to the ground the same afternoon the city council had approved its protection.